The Trip of a Lifetime - My Son's Big Adventure

[Sylvain]

Nice to have the pictures printed into a book Mom!
I lost so many pictures of my travels (mainly in the US) because I stored them on a computer that crashed. (with no backup on external drive or DVD).

 

[mom45]

Nice to have the pictures printed into a book Mom!
I lost so many pictures of my travels (mainly in the US) because I stored them on a computer that crashed. (with no backup on external drive or DVD).

I have everything he has shared with me on my external hard drive and on Photobucket...many are also on his site, flickr, facebook, etc. so if one crashes we should still have the others to get them from. The book turned out quite nice. I have to say, I am impressed with the quality from Snapfish and at 70% off, the price was quite reasonable.

 

[mom45]

I have been behind in updates, partly because my son is staying in one place currently and hasn't posted many updates on his blog. He plans to start doing weekly updates and posted a new one today with some photos and sketches. Sketchy Travels ? The Anthony Brooks

These are some of my favorite photos and sketches from his recent blogs.

He is standing next to the girl in the yellow sweater.



A page from the sketch book.


Fritz the resident dog that lives at the Hostel




He drew on someone's sneakers upon request...hey, it was a paying gig!

 

[Kutnupe14]

Thanks for the update. How long has he been traveling?

 

[mom45]

He left here on August 15th. He is staying in one place because he has a free room and they are paying him to paint murals in the rooms of the hostel and for various other tasks. They are also paying him to visit museums and develop guided tours of those for their guests. He's researching jobs doing freelance illustrator work as well.

I do believe his funds are starting to get a bit low so he is getting creative so he can continue his trip. He has a place to stay and food to eat and is safe.

 

[mom45]

An update....it's been a few weeks without much happening. It is cold weather so my son has been staying at the Fair and Square Hostel since November when he arrived in Belgrade. He is making friends and meeting many new people from all over the world who come to stay. He is working doing some maintenance and computer work in exchange for a place to stay so this has been a good place to hang out for a while. One of the current guests is a freelance artist and has given him some great advice/direction on how to find work in this area.

My son was contacted today about his first freelance job, and is going to be doing some illustrations for use on t-shirts, billboards and other types of media. He is thrilled as this first assignment will bring in just under $2,000! There were 15 people who submitted portfolios and he was hired based just on his portfolio (others also had interviews). He is also doing some sample sketches for another job that would be another $400, and so far, they really like what he has submitted.

His blog is again being updated regularly (weekly) with news of what he has been up to. Sketchy Travels ? The Anthony Brooks

Here are a few recent sketches/drawings.

This is a sketch done for the "wandering wasp" - if you are on facebook, she has her own page that also shares his work. This young lady has been traveling on her Vespa scooter since last May and this was part of her voyage showing her Vespa on a boat as she continued her travels.

 

[chocktaw2]

Nice Pug! Hope this works well for him. Hoping he can stay for awhile.

 

[mom45]

Thanks Chock! He's been gone 6 months already so we'll see how long he makes it. He is still in Belgrade and is working there so plans to stay for at least the remainder of the winter I believe. He's working on some freelance illustration work as well.

Here are some recent sketches. He has been posting updates to his blog (linked in my signature) weekly again.

 

[mom45]

He's back to working on digital paintings again. This is one of the other guests/volunteers at the hostel where he is staying.

Both are digital artwork...not photos. Hubby thought the color version was the reference photo when he saw it.

 

[mom45]

Time lapse video of him doing a self portrait....I'm mesmerized watching this.


[video=youtube;vJXTgG8Dmg0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJXTgG8Dmg0&feature=share[/video]

 

[mom45]

I don't have artwork to share today, but his trip has taken him to an area he never expected to be. He discovered there is a refuge camp two miles from where he has been staying. So he and another visitor at the hostel decided to go there and volunteer to help for a day. He will be spending more time there as he sees a tremendous need. I am sharing some of the pictures he took in the camp and will add the text he shared on two separate FB pages about his experience there. I apologize if any of it is duplicated, but I'm just copying and pasting so it is in his words.

Went to volunteer with Tom Malzard at the Belgrade refugee camp today. It's a crazy, sickening place with open sewage and nowhere near enough supplies for the people who are there. We spent most of the day sawing through briar patches and small trees so we could shovel garbage, clothes, and sewage into a pit where it can be cleaned out with an excavator.

I'll be going back to do more and use my mechanical/construction skills for something good. As long as they're okay with it, I'll try and get some more photos, drawings, and will be starting a crowdfunding page soon to hopefully pay for some solar/wind power sources.


This was on his personal page but gave much more insight as to just how bad the conditions are:

I don't know how to describe the situation at the refugee camp here in Belgrade. There are a few large warehouses with holes poked through the windows and in the roof and occasionally stovepipes pushed through. In the less lucky situations, they're just burning inside of the buildings with essentially nonexistent ventilation.
Besides that, there are a few (like... 4?) showers and a small line of porta-potties outside with only cold water and ~1-2,000 people. Plus only a small understaffed kitchen to supply some food. It's a crazy thing to see/place to be.
Anyways, regardless of what you may think about refugees in general, these are people. From a variety of backgrounds. Some were wealthy before fleeing their country and some were extremely poor. Some educated and some less so. There might be a few bad apples in the bunch, but regarding the majority, you have a large group of people trying to get as far away from something horrible as possible.
It's a pretty ****ed up situation. That's all that this boils down to...

 

[actaeon277]

Sounds like some of that work can be done by the refugees.
Garbage control, etc.

 

[mom45]

I agree and I think they do some, but they do not have materials readily available to build showers and facilities that would promote a healthier/cleaner place for them. I think it was very eye opening for him to realize that all of these people were in this "camp" just two miles from where he has been staying the past few months.

 

[1911ly]

Wow, I still can't help but think that the UN and other country's should have helped this people more by creating safe zones where they could have staying in the region. In reality I think they should have stepped in period and ended the genocide being done by both sides. Why do we have a UN? They don't seem to do much to protect or defend any country's. They just mostly stand by, watch and oppose any thing the US suggest.

Your son is an honorable young man, I am very proud of him, as we know you are. I'll he stays safe. My god bless him for what he is doing. What am adventure this journey has been!

 

[actaeon277]

I agree and I think they do some, but they do not have materials readily available to build showers and facilities that would promote a healthier/cleaner place for them. I think it was very eye opening for him to realize that all of these people were in this "camp" just two miles from where he has been staying the past few months.

Wow, I still can't help but think that the UN and other country's should have helped this people more by creating safe zones where they could have staying in the region. In reality I think they should have stepped in period and ended the genocide being done by both sides. Why do we have a UN? They don't seem to do much to protect or defend any country's. They just mostly stand by, watch and oppose any thing the US suggest.

Your son is an honorable young man, I am very proud of him, as we know you are. I'll he stays safe. My god bless him for what he is doing. What am adventure this journey has been!

I hope I didn't sound like i was coming down on your son, or all the refugees.
I've seen Americans wallow in their own filth waiting for someone to "do something", and I realize they don't have acces to parts, tools, supplies.

 

[mom45]

I hope I didn't sound like i was coming down on your son, or all the refugees.
I've seen Americans wallow in their own filth waiting for someone to "do something", and I realize they don't have acces to parts, tools, supplies.

I didn't take it that way. It was something I had asked him as well. I'm amazed at how hard it is to find basic supplies in that area. He has had to be pretty resourceful in creating his own tools to use for some projects even around the hostel. He is doing some maintenance work as part of his volunteer work there in exchange for a place to stay, and his first trip to the local "hardware" store was quite a revelation to him. We definitely take much for granted here. He is experiencing a very different lifestyle there. He is going to be a very different person when he returns...a better one with more compassion for others. This is not something I could have pictured him doing six months ago.

 

[SSGSAD]

I am glad, he is ok ..... And am glad to see this thread, again .....

I had wondered, what had been happening .....

Thanks for the update .....

 

[mom45]

He has been pretty busy the past couple of weeks in ways that didn't produce much I could share. He had a freelance illustration job that he did for a book, but I can't share the pictures since he does not own the images.

 

[mom45]

Not much artwork to share this week. My son's been busy with the refugee camp so this week's blog is mostly related to that. Rather than posting more photos from the camp, I am sharing the link to his blog post. It includes a summary of what he has been doing/seeing and some photos that are better explained by the blog than I could describe in a summary.

The blog entry can be read here.... Life's Not All Rainbows ? The Anthony Brooks

 

[mom45]

After my prompting, my son has created a new blog post. After reading it, I now see why he has been so busy....there was a girl involved.

New blog post can be found here. The Anthony Brooks

I have had brief messages from him over the past month, but not many.